Florida

State Background

Florida is a state located in the southeastern United States. It is situated mostly on a large peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. It extends to the northwest into a panhandle, extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Florida is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama, and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near the countries of the Caribbean, particularly the Bahamas and Cuba.

At 345 feet above mean sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida and the lowest highpoint of any U.S. state. Much of the interior of Florida, typically 25 miles or more away from the coastline, features rolling hills with elevations ranging from 100 to 250 feet in many locations.

The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by its proximity to water. Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, except for the southern tip which borders on tropical and the Florida Keys which have a true tropical climate. Cold fronts can occasionally bring high winds and cool to cold temperatures to the entire state during late fall and winter. The seasons in Florida are actually determined more by precipitation than by temperature with mild to cool, relatively dry winters and autumns (the dry season) and hot, wet springs and summers (the wet season).

Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State," but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. It has the highest average precipitation of any state, in large part because afternoon thunderstorms are common in most of the state from late spring until early autumn. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country.